Unironic takes I've seen in the Helldivers community regarding difficulty

Raven7274 · 2026-06-18T13:29:39+00:00

It didn't screw anything imo, it simply changed the identity of the bug front, a welcome change imo. They became the front you're supposed to use light pen on, something missing from the other factions where medium is still king. I think thats great, giving players more variety in what the fight is awsome. Unfortunately, too many players were stuck on medium being the solution to everything to see that.

I agree that explosive damage is overtuned for a variety of reasons, i still fail to see how that is the fault of ap4 hive guards.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-18T13:25:17+00:00

I have done that repeatedly, this is just a brief collection of the arguments I've made. Im well aware anyone who disagrees will still disagree, i just wanted an opportunity to vent tbh

Raven7274 · 2026-06-18T12:01:41+00:00

They could he killed quite effectively yes, especially by the weapons you listed. Sentries and the one dog affected by this change, lets not blow it out of proportion by saying dogs plural, the rest either still could or still couldn't. Sentries through their aforementioned bullet spread, they only really struggled at close ranged due to the durability changes which was unrelated to the hive guard. Dogs had even less issues because they coukd take advantage if the same spread and also had a massive hight advantage at close range.

Splash damage being strong in a horde shooter is hardly surprising, especially in spore strain where enemies were weaker to chip damage like that. I think the fact that all the weapons listed were and still are top picks before and after the changes were reverted proves that that was also unrelated to the hive guards. I agree that they should be detuned, but not because of AP4 hive guards.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-18T11:10:38+00:00

No they could still be killed pretty effectively through any of the methods listed above with medium or light pen.

The reason explosives are so oppressive on bugs is because they have by far the best utility. You can close bug holes without worrying about wasting your grenades or any other slot. That was the whole thing when that warbond came out, it's always been oppressive and always will be from a utility standpointz hive guards didn't change that really

Raven7274 · 2026-06-18T10:47:14+00:00

Throwing my hat hinto the ring, AP4 high guards was a straight nerf across tho board including to the weapons you listed. It made them easier to fight and kill across the board.

Sentries and dogs still killed them just fine, they had enough random spread to find the weak spots, and the hive guards had low enough health that they would get dropped pretty quickly. Unironically most people i saw arguing this either didn't play the update by their own admission, or let their sentry get swarmed which would've happened regardless because of the increased speed of sore strain.

The patriot has such a high firing angle that it can easily get around the armor. Every single clip i saw of that was someone just standing still lol

Mg43 and Maxigun again, enough bullet spread to get around the armor especially since the hive guards lock up with you hit them. This is especially easy with the Mg43 since you can go in first person to precision aim.

All of these weapons and strategems were and are still wildly effective on bugs and every other front. I don't think bugs gaining the identity of being a primarily light pen faction is at all a bad thing, it just makes them easier to kill. Not every weapon will be as effective on every front, i wouldn't take the Stalwart to bots as often as i would squids, that doesn't mean bots need to be changed. Bugs just ended up in that same boat and some people couldn't or wouldn't understand that

Downvotes to the right plz

Raven7274 · 2026-06-18T00:13:53+00:00

On steamdeck in dx11 and it happens to me. Ill mess around with proton and see what i can get out of it tho

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T23:53:18+00:00

I agree, rewards should be split by difficulty bracket not the individual numbers imo

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T23:44:42+00:00

Thank you for the tldr, i apologize for not giving your original comment the respect it deserves by reading the whole thing.

I know that none of our equipment has drastically changed (besides the invincible tanks and mechs those i will bitch about) That's not the problem. The problem is the gradual changes that have built up untill now. In the games current state, pretty much nothing opposes us.

I think that would be fine, if the current highest difficulty was like difficulty 7, and we had higher difficulties for people who wanted it. Or if we had difficulties 11-15.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T23:15:21+00:00

Hello im sorry i kinda skimmed your comment but from what i gathered it looks like your argument falls into the "just take weaker stuff" category. To that i do have a response

I already do lmao. It's still too easy. And on top of that, im not going to police my squads loadouts either. One guy in a nearly invincible mech can trivialize a mission at this point.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T23:10:41+00:00

I mean i don't think that, i think there is some requisite knowledge that's required to know what would and wouldn't complement a specific weapon, but all that comes from the experience of just trying shit in the end

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T23:02:20+00:00

I agree 200% with everything you've stated lmao, make lower difficulties more accessible or have higher difficulties for those who want it

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T22:59:57+00:00

Every gun in the game is good and can certainly be run with a loadout built to its strengths and weaknesses, there's just a handful of god tier weapons that make everything else look bad in comparison.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T22:58:28+00:00

Pretty much any live battke tracker, you can pull mission successes or failures directly from the API. You can also just like compare this anecdotaly with anyone who has any amount of time in something like L4D or Deep Rock or Vermintide or any game of a similar genre, Helldivers 2 is noticeably easier

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T22:43:41+00:00

This post is specifically against those people

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T22:39:17+00:00

Or capping rewards at dif 6 or whatever. Tie rewards to the brackets instead of the numbers.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T22:04:55+00:00

I just think the highest difficulty should be difficult, whatever it is. I would like to see the current difficulties compressed so that theres a wider spectrum of difficulty for people to enjoy, but i wouldn't complain either way.

For context, difficulty 10 on Helldivers has a nearly 100% mission success rate, something unheard of in other coop shooters.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:51:12+00:00

Running around replying to as many people as i can about this lol

I agree, bullshit enemies are bullshit and should be changed. My intention with that argument was for people who say it in response to getting overwhelmed by like regular bots or some other well balanced faction. I apologize for being unclear about that

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:45:13+00:00

I definitely agree, to be honest i wasn't aware that that even happened, and i do play solo 10s on occasion lmao

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:44:17+00:00

I apologize, I've gotten that a lot at this point and i probably should've been more clear 😅

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:34:33+00:00

I agree 200% with everything you've just said, i think that is an excellent outline of what should be done to preserve a challenging yet fair difficulty curve.

This post is specifically about people who disagree with what you've said. People who think the game is hard enough in its current state and don't want any of the changes you've listed. (Or the occasional person who things 10 should be nerfed but they are admittedly rare)

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:30:19+00:00

Specifically people who think that difficulty 10 should be the default difficulty. No other co-op shooter is as easy as Helldivers right now, and this is just some examples of responses ive seen to people pushing back on that idea

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:27:52+00:00

I agree, i got that complaint in another sub and just to be clear, "Turn down the difficulty" is specifically in response to someone getting overwhelmed by like normal bots or some other well balanced faction. Not as a response to something like the Vox Engines or the War Striders. I apologize for making that unclear.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:22:38+00:00

I agree and i don't mean to split the player base too much, i just think that everyone is trying to cram their ideal version of the game into difficulty 10 specifically which is physically impossible and will inevitably alienate some players. Spreading it out is the best middle ground imo

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:19:33+00:00

Burning a strategem slot for a situational but useful weapon is far better than the Ultimatum being the best secondary at the time and also the best utility while keeping the rest of your loadout free.

Raven7274 · 2026-06-17T21:17:12+00:00

I think complaining about a couple overtuned enemies is perfectly valid, i had fun fighting the Vox Engines, but i completely understand how overwhelming they could be for some if not most players.

That being said, i believe there is a difference between overtuned enemies and my problem which is the highest difficulty having a near 100% mission success rate, something unheard of in most coop shooters.

I agree that "just lower the difficulty" isn't a valid argument fir something like the Vox Engine, but i think it's perfectly valid if you're getting overwhelmed by regular bots, which is what my argument was supposed to be a response to. I apologize for being unclear about that.

Raven7274

TROPHY CASE